Christmas for Valentines Day

Now that the craziness of the holidays and getting Bryson out on his mission have gone by, 

we finally find the time to update you all.

We started December by welcoming Stacey and Wilson.

They stayed with us for a few days before heading to Lethbridge.

Alicia came out to visit too.

We all trimmed the tree and played games

Alicia painted a picture of a bridge near Tamsin's home town in England.

Then Brandon and Tamsin brought Euan for the holidays.

Tamsin had never experienced having to get past Santa's traps if you woke up too early Christmas morning.

 She was inaugurated into Prince tradition by experiencing Survivor Christmas. 

If they wanted their presents, they had to try and find a way into the secured compound of the main floor of the house. That meant they had to: put on their buffs,

make a tribe flag,

Then outwit, outplay and outlast Santa for their presents.

They had to work their tether through a maze of strings to retrieve the stockings full of puzzle pieces,

then solve the puzzle for the next clue,

which sent them to undo all the knots in the climbing rope to release a ring of keys for the safe,

Find the right key to open the safe for the next clue,

use their quickdraw skills to shoot the birdies off the fence,

  

Inside one of the birdies was the next clue

that sent them through the neighbourhood looking for the key to get in the house to their presents.

Turns out they had to go swimming for the key

Just when they thought they made it into the house to their presents - a twist.

No survivor is complete without a food challenge!

They each had to choose a covered mystery bowl, eat the contents and show an empty mouth.

mmm - liver pate

Bryson got snails!

Finally - the presents.

Success. You will notice that it is still completely black outside. Fortunately, no neighbours called the police that crazy people were running around the cul de sac with lights flashing and being crazy at 2:00am. Whew.

Euan got into the spirit very quickly as well.

The Prince family dinner was at our house this year too. We welcomed Craig and Addison, Granny and Grandpa, Tyler, Vicky and Tanner a few days after Christmas.

We hope everyone enjoyed their stay. 

We took a four generations picture

and a family picture.

Then it was off to Denver to welcome little Brooke into the world.

A quick trip down to her blessing was a good time to catch up with family.

It also gave us a chance to see how all the grand kids are growing up before our eyes and take Bryson  through the Temple. 

Bryson took the chance to cram in some video games before his mission.

Then -  

off to the MTC.